Delmont council approves work on borough building

Delmont council members are looking to replace aging items in the borough building, a structure described by public works head Bill Heaps as having “the body of a 30-year-old and the insides of a 100-year-old.”

Council voted 5-0 to begin preparing engineering specifications for replacing the building’s aging roof, and took a similar vote to begin replacing windows in the building, which originally served as the Delmont Public School beginning in 1898.

Councilman Bill Marx said an inspection of the roof area revealed no asbestos, which will save the borough some money during its replacement. Marx said the borough’s engineer will begin preparing bid specifications for the project.

Council also will replace what Heaps deemed the 10 worst windows in the building.

“There’s one window in the (accountant’s) office that actually falls out of the frame,” Heaps said. “Thank goodness it’s not on the second floor. We also have windows in the (upstairs) day care that need to be replaced.”

The cost to replace the windows will be roughly $6,800.

The building’s issues are primarily internal. Heaps said the structure itself is in good shape.

“If there was a really bad storm, this is the building you’d want to be in,” he said. “It’s got 3-foot concrete walls.”